Andres McIntyre was as excited as a kid on Christmas morning when the uniforms for Virginia Peninsula Community College’s new track and field team arrived last week. It wasn’t so much how they looked, although he says they are sharp. It was what they represent, which he stressed to his athletes.
“Seeing the jerseys come in is like, ‘Do you all realize? Do you all understand?,’” said McIntyre, who was named track and field/cross country coach in August 2023.
As VPCC expands its sports offerings, track and field is the latest. The team will compete in four events this spring. The first is the Virginia Beach Spring Break Invitational at Virginia Wesleyan University on March 15-16.
It also hit him when athletics director Chris Moore asked him if the uniforms would work for cross country, which will begin in the fall.
“I said ‘yes,’” McIntyre said. “We have something brewing right before our eyes.”
He is starting with six athletes but would like to have 20.
“We’re still looking to add as interest comes about on campus,” he said. “We will continue to add on so we can build a potential roster for the incoming seasons, such as fall cross country and then, of course, looping them back into outdoor again for next year, 2025.”
While McIntyre’s long-range goal is fielding a competitive program, he’s taking it one step at a time. With a new program, health is his main concern. He can’t build a foundation with unhealthy athletes. That is one reason his schedule is only four events, which is just short of his deal number of six.
“With the first season rolling out, getting a good four is an honest start,” he said. “Getting their feet up under them, getting them involved, getting them out there, competing against not only community colleges, but some of those schools are Division I, Division II talent. It gets them out there, gets them exposure.”
It seems straightforward that keeping the athletes healthy allows them to enter meets, but, as with the uniforms, it signifies more. It allows them to make school history.
“If they’re present, I can utilize them on the track and be able to allow them to finish a race. When they finish a race, and it’s etched in stone Virginia Peninsula Community College (competed) …,” he said, his voice trailing off.
“I’m looking at the first piece.”
The team practices and work outs mainly on the Hampton campus. McIntyre sets up cones in the empty parking lots and uses some grassy areas. Occasionally, he directs the distance runners to nearby Sandy Bottom Nature Park for training. His athletes also use Riverview Park, and throwers take advantage of facilities near their homes, sometimes working out with other athletes.
“My throwers, I definitely commend them because they have had to work a lot autonomously,” he said.
They check in with McIntyre, who gives them workouts.
“Just taking advantage of the community and the campus,” said the coach.
While McIntyre is competitive, he will mark the success of his first season not in wins but in keeping his athletes healthy.
“That will be the dictator of us having a good season,” McIntyre said. “(If) everybody competed, everybody finished. We (can) go home knowing that we’re starting things off for the school, starting history.”
The team members and their events: Cinthya Bates (5,000 meters), Zachary Baumgartl (1,500 and 5,000), Andrew Garner (shot put and discus), Joshua Rivera (100 meters, 200 meters), Josiah Selby (shot and discus), and Kennedy Taylor (100 and 200).
Students interested in joining the team can email McIntyre at mcintyreA@vpcc.edu or athletics director Chris Moore at moorec@vpcc.edu.
Baseball
The College’s baseball team (4-17) dropped a three-game weekend series to Rockingham Community College.
On Friday, March 8, the Gators lost both games of a doubleheader, 5-4 and 11-6.
In the first game, which went nine innings, the Gators took the lead in the first inning on a single by Marco Fernandez but fell behind 3-2 after five. They gave up two more runs in the top of the seventh before RBI singles from Tyler Stobbs and Israel Dozier cut the deficit to one.
However, that was the end of the scoring for both teams.
Jayden Alvarez had three hits and scored two runs for the Gators. Dozier finished with two hits. Logan Contreraz pitched the final 2 2/3 innings for VPCC, limiting the visitors to two hits and no runs. He struck out five.
The second game, which went seven innings, started much the same with the Gators taking a 1-0 lead after the first. They also had leads of 3-2 and 4-3 before giving up five runs in the last two innings. Stobbs and Alvarez had two hits apiece, and Stobbs scored twice. Alvarez and Caleb Gonzales drove in runs.
The series, and the weekend, concluded with a 13-2 loss Sunday. Brendan Walker, Gavin Price, Bracy and Fernandez had two hits each, with Bracy and Fernandez contributing doubles.
This week, the Gators’ midweek game is March 13 at Heritage High School against Chowan University’s junior varsity team. The nine-inning game will start at 6 p.m. They are home to Paul D. Camp on Saturday, March 16, for a doubleheader beginning at 11 a.m. They play a single game at Camp on Sunday, March 17, starting at 1 p.m.
For more information on VPCC and its athletics programs, visit www.vpcc.edu.